Claymore, Windcutter Kate
by Tsubasa prince
Summary: Windcutter Kate, a title given to her for her warrior ability, is one of the Organization's best. However, when she's tasked to kill Clare, another Claymore on the run, and a human boy, she finds herself questioning her loyalties. Next Chapter up! Plz R
1. Chapter 1

She walked into the town slowly and deliberately stepping over the fallen gate that had

once served as the main entrance. Her steel boots rang slightly with each slow step that

she took, her silver eyes directed in front of her.

The town was in bad shape, this much she could tell. Some of the buildings were

crumpled and there was debris in the middle of the roads. Windows on several buildings

were shattered, the glass shards laying where they'd fallen. The market was the busiest,

and despite the shape that the town was in, it seemed as though nothing had gone wrong

in the small civilization. The people held a slight fear in their eyes as they bought

vegetables and sold their goods but the fact that there was a Yoma here, did not deter

them from gathering and continuing to live life.

All of this, she took in with her peripheral vision and kept her silver orbs staring directly

in front of her. As she moved, the wind tossed her white clothing in a perfect swaying

motion matched with the long strands of her blonde hair. She kept walking, the gleaming

claymore on her backside seeming not to burden her at all with its weight.

People stopped talking immediately, most of them cringing in fear as she passed. She

could hear their whispered voices as easily as if they were talking right next to her.

"There's another Claymore…"

"I hope this one's stronger…"

"As long as she kills it and gets out of here…"

It didn't matter which town she visited to work. The dialogue from the locals always

stayed the same. They gawked her openly and continued to whisper behind their hands.

She ignored them choosing to concentrate on her job. The Yoki that this particular Yoma

was giving off was surprisingly weak and she half wondered how the warrior sent here

previously, was defeated. Unless of course, the Yoma was intentionally making itself

appear weaker than it really was.

She arced a brow, the only change in her calm yet beautiful features, at the prospect. A

Yoma strong enough to keep its Yoki in check was sure to be strong enough to at least

present a challenge.

The Yoki led her to a darkened building, every single window on its exterior shattered

and broken. There was a large hole in the side of the building and she frowned slightly

wondering why the Yoma had chosen such a place to reside. Normally, they would try

and fit in as much as they could as a human to throw off suspicion. However, this

particular Yoma was dwelling in such an obvious place, that it was a wonder that the

locals did not try to keep away from the building.

Humans were so stupid.

She stood in front of the doorway, the door had been knocked clean off of its hinges and

lay to the side, and waited patiently. Surely the Yoma inside had to have sensed her

presence by now if it was anywhere near strong. She stood there, her white cloak

billowing wildly in the heavy breeze that was catching her hair and anything else that it

could catch.

She gave it one minute before she'd grown impatient and somewhat disappointed. So it

was not a strong Yoma at all to have missed her presence standing just outside of its

residence.

"There's no use in hiding." she spoke aloud, her voice a ringing bell amongst the locals

who were curiously watching. "Let's get this over with."

Her call was immediately answered with a sudden tremor that rocked the ground from

the building out causing several people to stagger away in fear. She folded her arms under

her bosom waiting for it to emerge.

There was a sudden explosion from within the building causing it to crumple. Several

large pieces of debris came flying at her from the explosion and she merely swayed her

head as one whistled harmlessly passed attempting to decapitate her. Her arms were still

crossed and she frowned at the crumpling building as it shook the ground capsizing in on itself. The pile of rubble shook as a giant clawed hand reached up and grabbed the

surface as the Yoma began to pull itself free.

As it emerged, so did its agonizing visage. It towered over her, standing well over ten

feet although its back was hunched. Several dagger-like teeth were lining its maw behind

a pair of thin, scaly lips. It eyes, huge and wide, were orange-yellow saucers centered

around pupils that were nothing more than black slits.

Slowly, her gloved hand reached up and grabbed the handle of her deadly claymore and she waited.

The Yoma's eyes narrowed on her as she waited and it in what seemed like the blink of

an eye, it was gone reappearing where she stood. It swung at her with its clawed hand but

even faster, she ducked the attack. In the same moment, like fluid, she pulled her

claymore free and swung up and about severing the Yoma's striking arm from its

shoulder.

The Yoma roared in agony as a fountain of purple blood sprayed from its shoulder, the

severed limb falling heavily to the ground.

"You bitch!" it shrieked leaping away from her and she stood back to her full height.

Her thin brows pulled together in a frown as she brought the claymore up and rested the blade on her shoulder.

"I'll kill you!" it ranted angrily looking at its bleeding nub of a shoulder with horrified

eyes.

She suddenly disappeared appearing right behind the Yoma, her speed catching the

demon off guard. It gasped looking left and right, its eyes wide with horror.

"Talk is cheap," she said swinging her claymore with such speed that the onlookers did

not see the actual attack.

The Yoma gasped and gurgled something incoherent before its head spilled off the top

of its massive body. It landed on the ground with a heavy thud before the body slumped

and fell on top of it. She landed on the ground and gave her claymore a quick jerk ridding

the weapon of the purple blood staining the blade. In another movement that seemed so natural and fluid-like, she sheathed the claymore at her back again.

The onlookers were in stunned silence as the woman turned and began heading back the

direction she'd entered the town. Their eyes went from her, to the corpse of the fallen

demon with such speed that they could have gotten themselves dizzy if they'd kept it up.

A question that the warrior had always wondered, as she gave the corpse of the Yoma one

final glance over her shoulder, was what happened to those corpses after the warriors

killed them? Did the humans get rid of them or did _he _come and handle them?

She shrugged slightly as she made her way to the fallen gate. It really didn't matter if she

really thought about it. Her job was to exterminate, not to wonder.

"Excuse me, Claymore." came a gruff voice behind her and she pulled to a stop.

Claymore. That was not what the warriors called themselves but a name the humans had

given them. Perhaps it had been due to the fact that they killed the Yoma with large claymores. Humans were not the most creative bunch, she thought turning to face the

voice.

It had come from a middle-aged man with graying dark hair. He shuffled forward

holding a bag of some kind and she sighed inwardly knowing what it was.

"Here is the payment for handling the Yoma." he said without looking her in the eyes.

"A man in black will come here shortly for the payment." she replied turning away from

him. "Give it to him then."

The man swallowed. "Okay."

The town had been relatively small. Before she'd known it, she was outside of the gate

looking back at it even with the slow, small steps she was taking. Why were the Yoma so

drawn to small towns? It did make sense that the smaller the town, the less they would

have to worry about her types coming after them. However, in a larger town, perhaps a

city, they could blend in easier as a human and have bountiful amounts of food.

Yoma were so stupid.

She sensed a presence then but it was not that of a Yoma, but of something else. She

knew this presence well and turned to face the tree that it was behind.

"You have another job for me?" she asked aloud.

There was a short silence before the other spoke. "Yes."

The voice was that of a man, deep and rough. She knew what the man looked like and

his voice did not suggest someone of his short size. She waited for him to continue but he

didn't so she sighed and went for his bait.

"Where is it?"

"It is not a Yoma this time." he answered back without revealing himself from behind the tree.

She frowned and wondered what else he would send her to kill. Perhaps, he was going

to send her after an Awakened One. Her heart fluttered a bit with anticipation and

excitement.

"Then?"

"How long have you been with the Organization, Kate?" asked the voice instead.

She frowned wondering how his question was relevant to the impending task that he was

going to hand her.

"A few months now," she answered sourly.

"It has come to the Organization's agreement that you be promoted to a single-digit

status." he replied and Kate's eyebrows arced upward in surprise.

They lowered again as she asked her question. "The Organization's had a change of

heart, have they?"

"How does number four sound?"

"It sounds ridiculous."

"Oh?"

She stared at the tree fuming but she kept her temper in check. "I beat Sophia in the last

rank duel." she said evenly. "So then why would she still be ranked third?"

"What is it with you warriors and your rank?"

"It's one of the few things we have left to take pride in."

The voice was silent on the other end for a moment before he spoke again. "You're next

task will be to team up with Sophia and a couple of others to track down an Awakened

One." he said, his voice even and neutral as always. "You can challenge her then and take

her spot if you so choose."

Kate's heart skipped a beat and sped up with excitement. A fight with an Awakened One

and a chance at taking Sophia's rank? At the same time? Her lips curled up at the corners

into a smile despite herself.

"Where am I meeting them?"

"In Norven, east of here." he answered immediately and she could tell that he was done

with his little game. "The Awakened One will be found in the next town of Fesler."

With all the information she needed, and the urge to be done with her meeting with him,

she turned and continued walking down the path she'd been on. Kate was grateful that he

didn't have anything more to say and the smile worked its way to her lips once again.

Sophia, she thought wryly, her expression shifting suddenly into a frown. How she

would love to take her rank from her after the embarrassing things she'd said after that

last ranking match.

The matches were held once a year at the Organization to test everyone's capabilities as

a warrior. Then they were ranked depending on how well they did and that rank was the

pride of each warrior. Kate's match against Sophia had been a close one, the two of them

nearly killing one another. It had been stopped mid-fight because Sophia, not Kate, was

on the verge of going over her limit. So it had been a wild surprise at the end, when they

were told the ranks of each warrior. Kate had been given tenth while Sophia - Sophia who

could not keep her powers in check to defeat her - had gotten third.

It had been so infuriating. Kate had not known what the Organization was thinking.

She'd outfought Sophia but yet, they ranked her seven levels above her. It had not made

any sense. Kate even wondered how well she'd fare against the other two who were ranked first and second. The Organization's word was law however, and there was not

much else she could do about it. If the two of them did fight again, Sophia just might go overboard and there won't be anyone around to help her if she changes…or help Kate for that matter.

Kate frowned thinking about all of this as she headed east to the town of Norven. It was

a rather large town she'd been to before on a couple of occasions. They seemed to draw

more Yoma than most places Kate had known.

As the path twisted and turned through the thick forest of trees on either side of her, her

thoughts inadvertently went back to the days of when she'd been a human. She tried to put the thoughts behind her but they seemed to float to the top of her mind if and when they wanted to. She saw faces and laughter. There were familiar buildings and shops lined

along crisscrossing roads. The mixture of voices and people, sights and smells. She had

loved it in her home city. That was until that Yoma had emerged. The Yoma who'd killed

her family and the Yoma who'd devoured her friends. The Yoma that'd eaten the one

she'd loved from the inside out.

She shook the thoughts away from her realizing that her Yoki powers were causing her

sword arm to bulge uncontrollably. Her hand was in a tight fist and she unclenched it

slowly, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself. Her silver eyes had shifted into yellow

orbs with black slits and a thick vein was stretching across her cheek.

Calm down, Kate told herself mentally. It was a long time ago. A lifetime ago. She did

calm down after a second or two and her eyes slipped back into their normal glassy silver

shade. The vein disappeared and her arm shrunk slowly back down to its normal size. She

needed to have better control over herself. If just those mere thoughts were enough to

send her over the edge, then what would happen if she came close to her limit? Would

she be able to calm herself then?

There was a shrill scream that echoed from the trees about her that sent her scrambling

away from her inner turmoil. Her eyes narrowed as she turned toward the direction of the

scream and like lightening, she was darting through them.

The trees became a blur of green as she dashed through them like a rocket. As the

sensation of a Yoki slapped her in the face, she began to slow down so that she didn't

miss its location. She came to an elegant jog as she approached a woman who was

scrambling through the shrubs and brush on the ground, her attention wrapped solely on

whatever was behind her. Kate pulled to a stop, her senses tuning in on the direction of

the demon's Yoki spilling out through the forest approaching her.

The woman, not looking where she was going, slammed headfirst into Kate and she fell

backwards to the ground. Kate didn't even so much as budge as the woman fell back in

shock. The woman looked up at Kate, agonizing horror coating her face.

"It's a monster!" she shrieked scrambling to her feet and looking over her shoulder

where Kate's attention was. "You have to get out of here!"

"I can take care of myself." Kate murmured to the woman without looking at her.

The woman was stunned as she looked at Kate and then back toward the direction she'd

been running from. She seemed to be in an inner turmoil of rather she should run or try

and convince Kate to follow her. Then she really looked at Kate and stopped.

"Y-you're one of them." she breathed, her panting heavy. Kate could see the woman

cringe slightly in fear away from her. "A Claymore."

"Get out of here while you can." Kate said gesturing over her shoulder where she knew

it was safe. "I'll take care of it."

The woman nodded frantically and didn't hesitate to stagger forward in an effort to

escape the horror that was trailing her. Judging by the approaching Yoki, Kate would

have given the woman another half of minute before the demon would have caught her

and devoured her where she fell.

The demon came lurking into sight running at a human pace. It had been enjoying the

stalk of its prey, it thin lips spread in a malicious grin. It came to a stop when it saw Kate

and the smile disappeared.

"Claymore." it hissed crouching defensively.

"Yoma." Kate replied, her eyes narrowing as she reached for her claymore.

She pulled it free in one swift movement, the blade gleaming dangerously in what little

sunlight that poured through the forest canopy.

"How I've longed to fight one of you so that I can see what your insides taste like." the

Yoma breathed anxiously. It twitched excitedly and Kate smirked.

It disappeared then, using its demonic speed to appear behind Kate and attacked, its

dagger-like claws leading the way. Kate whipped her claymore behind her and intercepted

the attack without turning and the Yoma growled attacking again. This time, Kate did

turn around, snapping her Claymore to the opposite side to bat the Yoma's claws away

before they even got close. She spun and kicked catching the Yoma in the gut and

sending it flying backwards. It snapped through a couple of tree trunks on the way

cracking them like toothpicks before it hit the ground cursing. The trees toppled over

crashing loudly into the ground.

She should end this quickly, thought Kate as the Yoma scrambled to its feet and

disappeared again. The quicker she killed this thing, the faster she got to fight Sophia and

that Awakened One.

The Yoma came from her side this time forcing Kate to pivot, a graceful spin that

dodged the attack completely, and slice upward with her claymore cutting cleanly through

its abdomen. In two thick pieces that were gushing purple blood, the Yoma fell to the

ground sputtering angrily. Calmly, she stepped up to the Yoma's head and eyed it angrily.

"You all…are just like us." the Yoma gasped as it bled freely. "You're not accepted by

humans but yet you kill your cousins. You are half-Yoma!"

Its words were more of an accusation than the usual dying curses that Kate normally

received when finishing off a Yoma.

"I am nothing like you." she said calmly as she twirled her claymore deftly in one hand,

the blade blurring with the speed, and gripped it when the point was facing down.

Quickly, she stabbed down sending her claymore diving into the Yoma's skull with

enough force that sent it all the way through and into the ground.

She emerged from the forest and back on the trail a few moments later thinking again of

what happened to the corpses of the Yoma once they were killed. What then of those that

were killed without the Organization's knowing? If they were the ones that collected the

corpses, how would they know where to go when the warriors killed Yoma in passing as

Kate just did?

She shrugged the thoughts away again thinking that it was not her place to wonder but to

act. She had a job to do. There was a very fun job coming her way. She'd heard a lot about Awakened Ones. How dangerous they were. How ruthless and devious they could

be. Awakened Ones were warriors like Kate who had passed their power's limits and

turned into hellish monsters. Apparently, it only happened rarely but overuse of a

warrior's Yoki powers would cause her to awaken rather if she passed her limit or had

just been using them too long.

Kate wondered when her day would come when the use of her demonic power would

overcome her. She hoped it wasn't for a good long while. She enjoyed living and killing

Yoma. It felt as if it was what she'd been meant to do. Especially after what one had done

to her. What it had taken…

She arrived in Norven as the sun was setting, her steel boots clinking slowly with each step that she took. Norven was slightly larger than the last village she was in and in much

better shape. The buildings weren't damaged and it seemed as though the people did not

have the fear in their eyes as the last village's. They eyed Kate with nervous apprehension

as she made her way through the town focusing on the presence of her fellow warriors

that were already gathered there.

"Another Claymore…"

"That makes four of them…"

"There can't possibly be a Yoma here…"

These were the whispered voices of some of the locals that Kate heard as she traveled

the busy road that cleared at her approach. Some of them practically scrambled out of her

way.

She came to the center of the town which seemed to be the less populated and she

immediately saw the reason why. There they were, three blonde women clad in all white

with large claymores sheathed to their backs, their eyes shining silver, standing there waiting for her.

Kate approached them, her facial expression apathetic as the three other warriors' silver

eyes locked on her. Kate's gaze immediately locked on Sophia who was standing in the

middle of them, a smirk on her face.

"Are you always late when it comes to grouping up?" asked Sophia as Kate came to a

stop in front of her.

Kate decided to ignore her question completely and ask one of her own. "Shall I take

your rank now or do you want to wait until after we've killed the Awakened One?"

This question seemed to surprise the two other warriors who gasped and Sophia's smirk

grew. She whipped her claymore free quickly but Kate's eyes tracked every motion. "You

can try, little Kate." she cooed teasingly referring to Kate's short amount of time in the

Organization. "However, a lot's changed since then."

"I doubt it."

Kate reached for her claymore as well, excitement surging through her but one of the

other warriors stepped between them. This one had a heart-shaped face and blonde hair

pulled into a long ponytail.

"We should not fight amongst ourselves when we have an Awakened One to kill." she

said, her head turning while she spoke to both of them. "You don't want to injure each

other at such a time."

Sophia looked at the warrior and shrugged whipping her claymore back into its sheath

behind her. "Looks like you're saved for now, little Kate."

The last warrior stepped forward looking at Kate. "Kate? As in Windcutter Kate?" she

asked curiously.

Kate frowned at the title and removed her hand from the handle of her claymore. "That

is me." she said eyeing the shortest warrior with short-cut hair. "Should we all state our

names then?"

"Yes," said Sophia turning to the gathered warriors. "we shall introduce ourselves with

name, rank and title if you have one."

The warrior with the pony-tail cleared her throat. "I am Lisa, rank fifteen." she said, her

voice was much higher than everyone else's. "I have no title."

"Lucille," the shortest one spoke up. "rank twenty-one and I have no title either."

"I am Kate -" Kate grimaced before correcting herself. "- Windcutter Kate, rank four."

Sophia's silver eyes flashed when she heard Kate's rank. "I'm Sophia of the Phantom

Step. Rank number three and captain of this mission."

Lucille's eyes trailed from Kate to Sophia. "Two single-digits?" she wondered rubbing

her bony chin. "They sent two low single-digits? This must be one tough Awakened

One."

"Does anyone here have any experience fighting Awakened Ones?" Sophia asked

looking from face to face.

Her three counter-parts all shook their heads and Sophia sighed. "I'm doomed." she

muttered and Kate frowned.

How dare she undermine her like this? How easy would it be to take that rank from her

right this instant? Kate gritted her teeth behind her lips. Lisa had brought up a good point,

however. It would not be smart on their part to injure one another when they had an

Awakened One to deal with. It was all the same now, Kate thought holding her tongue. Awakened One first and then Sophia.

"We are going to stay here tonight," Sophia was saying. "Tomorrow early in the

morning, we'll head to Fesler and kill this Awakened One."

Lucille and Lisa nodded and Kate glowered. Why should she take orders from someone

whom she could best in battle? She sighed angrily finding an answer to her own question.

Sophia outranked her…for now at least.

"Where are we going to stay until then?" Lucille asked looking about at the staring faces

of the humans. "It doesn't look like they're too fond of us here either."

Lisa laughed. "You actually found a place that they are fond of us?"

"I've secured a small place on the edge of town that will do." Sophia said beginning to

head in that direction and the other three followed, Kate slower to do so than Lucille and

Lisa.

The place she'd secured turned out to be an old storage shed that was warm and cozy

enough despite their circumstances. There were old tools and a broken horse chariot that

had seen better days but besides that, there was nothing there that was remotely

interesting to the eye.

Kate found a corner and unsheathed her claymore stabbing it into the ground so that it

stood on its own. She then proceeded to take off her steel shoulder guards and sat them on

the ground beside her claymore. She sat in the corner and closed her eyes in thought

trying to lose herself in them.

She didn't get too far before, to her great annoyance, Sophia began talking to her.

"So, they promoted you to fourth, huh?" she asked.

Kate opened her eyes slowly and found Sophia leaning against the wall across from her. She didn't answer, just glowered at her.

"Jeez, you sure know how to carry a grudge." Sophia went on with a shrug taking off her

claymore and slamming it down into the ground.

"A rightful grudge." Kate muttered.

"You know, our ranks weren't just decided on how well we fought but on what our

potential and obedience is as well." Sophia said lowering herself into the corner across

from Kate's. "You shouldn't take it so personal."

Kate frowned, her hands clenching into fists. Would Sophia dare to say the same if what

had happened to Kate, happened to her?

"Look," said Sophia realizing Kate's anger. "we're team mates now for this mission so I

don't want anything between us ruin our success for this mission or threaten Lisa and

Lucille's lives. Afterwards, I'd be more than happy to give you a rematch for my rank."

Kate snorted. Sophia didn't have a choice. She was going to fight her no matter what

when they'd finished with this Awakened One. However, she nodded knowing that

Sophia was right. Kate needed to put aside her dislike for Sophia for the sake of the

mission and for the sake of the lives of their comrades.

"Agreed."

Sophia smiled. "Great."

To Kate's relief, Sophia closed her eyes leaning her head against the wall signaling the

end of their of conversation.

Kate studied Sophia a bit longer in thought. That had not been the Sophia she'd remembered. Sophia had been arrogant and impolite. Disrespectful even. Especially after

their ranking bout with one another. What happened to make Sophia act this way? Act in

a way that almost made Kate wonder why she'd disliked her in the first place. Was it a

ploy because she knew that Kate was better and that her rank was going to be stripped

from her? Or was it something else? A near-death experience perhaps?

Kate sat there pondering Sophia's actions until she grew bored of the questions that she

could never bring herself to ask. Swallowing, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath

waiting for what little sleep she was going to get, to come and claim her.


	2. Chapter 2

The four of them arrived in Fesler just as the sun was nearing the top of the sky, their shadows all but small circles beneath them. There were no signs of any humans in the broken waste of the town and the stench of a powerful Yoki was looming over the place like a deathly shadow.

The sensation of the Yoki sent a chill of fear down Kate's spine despite the butterflies in her stomach. Lucille and Lisa seemed wary, their silver eyes darting in every direction for any sign of the Awakened One.

Kate's eyes narrowed straight ahead of them where the Yoki of the Awakened One was practically screaming at them.

The Awakened One knew they were there before any of them could pinpoint its exact location. The Yoki began to grow even more powerful sending a tremor of anxiety shivering through Kate. This was it. Her very first fight with an Awakened One. A past warrior who'd sent themselves over the edge with their demonic power.

Sophia never slowed as she led them deeper and deeper into the city, her eyes straight-forward and focused. Kate wondered if she was just as anxious as Kate herself was or whether if it were an act. It was an act, probably. Although Sophia did seem to be the only one here who'd dealt with an Awakened One before judging by her words last night.

Sophia pulled up to a stop in front of a large cathedral on the west side of Fesler, its dark and lifeless windows staring back down at them. Sophia pulled her claymore free and held it relaxed at her side. Lisa and Lucille were quick to do the same, however, they held theirs up defensively.

"A cathedral out of all places." Sophia said over her shoulder to them. "The irony of these monsters never ceases to amaze me."

Slowly, a dark silhouette began moving inside of the cathedral toward them and everyone, Sophia and Kate included, tensed. From where she stood, Kate could hear the faint footsteps of approach from within the cracked walls of the cathedral. All four pairs of silver eyes were focused on the open doorway, where the silhouette was approaching and Kate reached up pulling her claymore free.

As the silhouette approached the light, it began to take shape, molding itself into the form of a little girl. Lucille gasped at the amount of Yoki seeping from it.

"Ah, more friends to play with." the little girl said smiling and the grip on Kate's claymore tightened. "It's been so long since I've had friends to play with."

"Do we attack first or play it defensive?" Lisa whispered out the side of her mouth for she did not want to take her eyes off the little girl.

"Kate," Sophia said without taking her eyes off the little girl either and Kate frowned in response. "take Lisa and flank it's left side. Lucille and I will attack head on to prevent us from getting in the way of your Windcutter."

The tactic nearly stunned Kate into looking at her. Sophia actually considered Kate's Windcutter as the main effort of the fight?

"I'm Claudia," said the little girl smiling at them. "What are your names?"

The sincerity of her voice would have nearly fooled Kate if it had not been for the knee-shaking amount of Yoki coming from her. Any human would have fallen for the ploy without a doubt.

"I'll attack first as the diversion for you to get in position, Kate." Sophia continued warily. "I'll be out of the way in time for you to use the Windcutter."

Kate nodded frowning at the little girl. She didn't even think it was possible for so much Yoki to exist in one thing. How did it not explode with the power losing control of itself?

"Here I go," said Sophia and before Kate could blink, she was gone, instantly reappearing behind the little girl with her claymore poised to strike.

Not wasting any time, Kate moved as fast as she could flanking the girl with Lisa right behind her. As she moved, Kate began twirling her claymore with one hand whipping it this way and that.

Sophia's strike was aimed for Claudia's neck but her attack was stopped immediately by a long withering tentacle that shot out of her arm and wrapped itself around her claymore. Another tentacle, this one thicker than the first, reached up from out of the top of Claudia's head and slapped Sophia away from her. The strike sent Sophia flying backward and she crashed into the brick wall of a nearby building disappearing in a cloud of smoke and dust.

Kate came to a stop, her claymore whirling about her so quickly that all anyone could see were several glints of silver that seemed to form a spiraling vortex around her. Kate released a small amount of Yoki into her sword arm just as one of the claymore's many revolutions were aimed at Claudia.

The force caused the ground to crack and split so quickly that it shook with a tremor as the attack soared at the girl. The attack was actually too fast to see so Kate could only follow the attack by the fissure in the ground that traced behind it nearly just as fast. The crack in the ground followed the Windcut all the way up to Claudia where upon contact, it split her down the middle spilling purple blood all throughout the place. The Windcut continued cleanly through her and crashed into a nearby building causing it to cave in on itself.

Kate's eyes widened in surprise as she stopped twirling the claymore gaping at the pieces of the little girl. Lisa gasped from behind her, her eyes all but large, silver saucers of shock.

I couldn't have killed it, Kate thought to herself fighting off the wave of shock. No way.

Sophia emerged from the pile of rubble dusting herself off with a frown on her face. She came out onto the street and her mouth dropped as her eyes landed on the two equal halves of Claudia that were lying next to each other in a puddle of purple blood.

"You did it!" Lucille exclaimed grinning.

"In one Windcut?" Kate asked herself.

Sophia gazed at Kate with surprise and shock as Kate herself, was having a hard time trying not to let the same features cover her face.

Suddenly and without warning, a tentacle shot out from one of the halves of Claudia and punctured straight through Lucille. Lucille gasped in pain as the tentacle lifted her off the ground and before either one of them could do anything, she was slammed back down onto the road with enough force to crash through it.

"Lucille!" Lisa shouted in shock.

Kate's eyes narrowed. She had known that an Awakened One wouldn't be so easily defeated. It had been trying to get them to lower their guard and then attack. Quickly, smaller tentacles from both halves of Claudia's body began stretching out and connecting to one another pulling them together in an effort to stitch themselves up.

The cloud of dust that had enveloped Lucille when she'd been slammed into the road dissipated revealing her lying in a shallow crater with a wound in her chest the size of Kate's palm.

"Lucille!"

"These friends are more fun than my last ones." Claudia said as she rose to stand upright, a slight smile on her face.

"You bastard!" Lisa shouted and in a dash, she was rushing in at it.

"Lisa, no!" Sophia shouted and disappeared using her Phantom Step to reappear just in time to cut cleanlyn through a tentacle that would have surely penetrated right through

Lisa's head.

Twisting after cutting through the tentacle, she kicked Lisa backward out of the way toward Kate and darted aside dodging another stretching tentacle. Kate swept up with her claymore cutting through that tentacle before twirling it about herself again preparing for the Windcutter.

Claudia's eyes gleamed and focused on Kate as she recognized the movements. Claudia sent several tentacles flying at Kate but Kate continued twirling her sword about in a vortex around herself. When the tentacles got too close, they were ripped to shreds by Kate's claymore as it whipped back and forth, around and about and up and down.

It would be no use, thought Kate grinning at Claudia who seemed annoyed. The Windcutter was a technique that allowed her to both defend and attack at the same time. She sent another Windcut slicing down the road at Claudia and the Awakened One was smart enough to leap out of the way in time to avoid being cut in two again. Kate turned following the demon. She sent one, then two Windcuts up into the air after Claudia splitting the ground with each one. Claudia spun and flipped through them before landing on the rooftop of the building that she'd slapped Sophia through. A Windcut was already on its way before Claudia had completely settled on the rooftop, but the demon was moving again before Kate's attack had crashed into the building.

Sophia was in the air already in place to intercept it, her claymore raised high. She swiped down barely missing Claudia by inches as the demon flipped under her claymore. Sophia was gone using her Phantom Step before Kate's Windcut slashed through the air where her and Claudia had been.

"Annoying wretch!" Claudia shouted sending a wave of sharp ended tentacles at Kate.

Kate frowned at their approach sending a Windcut out at them. The Windcut obliterated through most of the tentacles but some of them proceeded unharmed. All the remaining tentacles were cut to pieces in the blur of her swinging claymore. All but one. A tentacle slipped through the defense of Kate's Windcutter stabbing through her shoulder merely half a second before it was cut by her claymore.

Despite herself, the Windcutter slowed with the wound in her swinging shoulder and Kate had to use her Yoki to stop the momentum of her claymore before it tore her arm completely off. She stabbed the claymore into the ground dropping to a knee in pain and grabbed at her shoulder.

"Cover Kate!" Sophia called to Lisa as she disappeared dodging a similar string of tentacles that had gotten through Kate's Windcutter.

Lisa stepped in front of Kate, her claymore held up in preparation for any tentacle that would come their way. By this time, Lucille had recovered emerging from the crater clutching the wound her chest.

"Bastard," she seethed gripping her claymore.

Sophia was a blur, disappearing and reappearing at will, striking mercilessly out at Claudia. The Awakened One chuckled gleefully as if she were having the time of her life and danced wistfully through Sophia's assaults.

"Damn you." Sophia spat Phantom Stepping out of the way of a deadly strike of Claudia's clawed fingers.

"This is so much fun!" Claudia cooed lashing out with several tentacles.

Sophia cut through them like hot butter, her claymore whipping back and forth with swift agility.

Kate jumped to her feet as Lisa darted forward with her claymore leading the way. Claudia saw Lisa coming and sent several tentacles out at her. Kate gasped but Lisa dipped back and forth between them and had even managed to cut through a few of them. Not bad for a warrior ranked at fifteen, thought Kate watching as Lisa twirled her claymore about defensively cutting down the tentacles that had assaulted her.

Using her Yoki, Kate began trying to regenerate focusing on the wound in her shoulder so that she could use the Windcutter again. Lucille had finished healing her wound and was charging forward as well, her claymore glinting dangerously.

Sophia danced aside as a tentacle nearly wrapped itself around her leg and cut it in two. "Are you not done, healing yet, Kate?" she panted. Her eyes were bright yellow from the use of her Yoki.

Kate gritted her teeth focused on healing the wound in her shoulder. She wasn't a defensive-type of warrior so healing wasn't as easy as it came for those who were.

Lisa swung agilely with her claymore but Claudia batted her strike to the side with a pair of tentacles before it had even come close, all the while laughing like a child.

Kate's wound slowly sealed closed and she sighed gripping her claymore. It was about time, she thought to herself beginning to whip her claymore back and forth, up and down, around and about. The vortex of spinning silver revolved around her and she sent a powerful burst of Yoki running down her arm and into her sword shooting forth a cosmic

Windcut.

The ground ripped apart as it flew passed causing a tremor that caused Lucille to nearly lose her balance. The Windcut darted passed Lisa causing her hair to whip in front of her and blasted through the shield of tentacles that Claudia had thrown up to defend against it.

The tentacles fell heavily to the ground writhing and gushing purple blood revealing Claudia standing on a rooftop, panting. The Windcut had nicked her in several places causing her to bleed. She turned a hateful gaze on Kate and screamed angrily.

The blast of the Yoki that came after was so tremendous that it sent Lisa and Sophia spiraling away from her to crash into two different buildings. They disappeared in clouds of smoke and debris.

With some effort, Kate kept her claymore whipping back and forth ready to use the blade's twirling vortex to defend any attack that was sure to come.

"You play too rough!" Claudia complained turning on Kate.

Claudia shot a single tentacle out at Kate where it dove into the ground at her feet. Thinking that Claudia had missed, Kate sent another Windcut up at the demon. Claudia used a wave of writhing tentacles to slap the Windcut to the side and into a large building which capsized it in a roar of smoke and a series of tremors. Kate's eyes lowered. So Claudia was stronger now. Strong enough to bat aside her Windcutter.

Frowning, Kate was just about to send another Windcut, more powerful this time, when a tentacle darted upward from the ground and into her stomach. It had been the same tentacle that Claudia had thrown into the ground. The demon had used the tentacle to burrow through the earth and up again through Kate's defenses. A sharp jab of pain stabbed Kate's gut as she gasped looking down at the tentacle as it slowly lifted her into the air.

Her blood was flowing like thick scarlet water down her white clothes and around the tentacle. Another tremendous blast of pain assaulted her backside as the same tentacle that had flown through her stomach, stabbed through her back and chest. Kate gagged on the blood that erupted from her mouth.

"You play too rough!" Claudia repeated angrily, her Yoki flowing monstrously.

"Kate!" Lisa shouted leaping into the air to cut through the tentacle that was holding her in the air but another tentacle swept in out of nowhere and knocked her aside like a rag doll.

With a roar of hellish rage, Claudia whipped the tentacle that was holding Kate through her stomach and chest outward and crashed it into a building. Kate's whole right side thundered with paralyzing pain as she crashed through the building. She didn't have time to scream for Claudia was bringing her back out of the building whipping her higher into the air. In one swift movement, she lashed the tentacle down toward the ground, slamming Kate through the road causing more blood to rush out of her mouth as pain that she'd never known radiated through her body.

Claudia laughed menacingly as Sophia appeared behind her head swinging with all of her might. The strike landed cutting deeply into her flesh but it wasn't nearly enough. A tentacle shot forward with such unanticipated speed, that Sophia seemed to guess at the strike swinging her claymore wildly to cut it down.

Lucille was there then, driving her claymore forward at Claudia's face but the demon swayed it causing the strike to miss. Lucille brought it back around cutting a gash in Claudia's shoulder that sent a river of purple spilling down the Awakened One's chest.

"Now you all are playing to rough!" Claudia wailed reaching up and grabbing Lucille by the scuff of her shirt. "I'll teach you how to play nicely!"

A tentacle would have gone straight through her skull if it had not been for Lisa who'd came down in a wide swinging arc with her claymore to cut it down. Claudia laughed merrily swatting Lisa aside with another tentacle as Sophia appeared and cut through the hand that was holding Lucille at bay.

Claudia gasped holding up her wrist as a flow of purple gushed from the nub. She shrieked angrily and with a flurry of tentacles, she sent them whipping out at Sophia.

Kate watched all of this through blurred eyes, her breathing shallow and damp with blood. Was this it? Was this her end? She lay there watching as Sophia Phantom Stepped through the flurry but as quick as she was, she could not dodge them all and one dove through her leg. As she howled in pain, another quickly dove through her head bringing her shout of pain up short. Sophia dropped her claymore, her body going limp and Claudia tossed her aside as if she were a mere play-thing.

The sight of this caused Lisa and Lucille to hold up short. Things were not looking good. Sophia was dead and Kate was on the verge of joining her. The two of them exchanged glances and Lisa swallowed.

However, the sight of seeing Sophia killed like that sent Kate boiling with rage. It killed Sophia? Killed Sophia before they could battle again? Before Kate could ask all those questions that had formed in her head the previous night? Sophia had been one of her comrades rather if Kate had her differences with her or not.

Great Yoki began pouring out of her until it exploded with anger. The feeling of releasing so much Yoki was exhilarating, almost passionate. She couldn't stop herself, the feeling of the power was so overwhelming that she wanted more. Kate knew where her limit was, had known since her fight long ago with Sophia. If she were to pass that limit, she would forever be a monster.

Kate's body bulged and stretched, thick veins sprouting up around her body. Her face pulled and her lips thinned in front of a set of fangs. Her eyes were boiling yellow, her dark slits nearly impossible to see.

It seemed almost effortless to cut through the thick tentacle that had slammed her into the ground. She probably could have ripped it apart with her hands if she'd wanted to but the thought of not having her sword for an instant made her choose otherwise.

Claudia's attention was drawn to Kate with such interest that Lisa and Lucille might not have been there at all. "Pretty." she purred referring to the purple light that was exploding around Kate with such intensity of her Yoki that it was nearly blinding to look at.

"Kate! No!" Lisa exclaimed with wide eyes as she gazed on in horror.

Kate heard her but she sounded as if she were a million miles away. She seemed as if she were a whole lifetime ago. Kate focused her yellow, devilish eyes on Claudia and gripped her sword with such force that she could feel the steel of the handle in her hand crush in on itself.

"Hi!" Claudia beamed at Kate happily. "You look like you'll be fun to play with."

Kate's eyes held such rage that Lisa and Lucille took an involuntary step away from her. "You killed…"

The words were a thought that kept running through Kate's mind over and over again. The words would form but the anger was so powerful that she could not finish the sentence.

"You killed…"

"Oh?" asked Claudia looking over at Sophia's corpse. "That? She was not fun and played rough."

The demeanor in which Claudia spoke about Sophia was enough to make Kate whip her claymore about in what seemed like one quick motion. The attack was so fast, so sudden, that Claudia seemed to not even notice it. A second or two later, the ground split and ripped apart so wide that it seemed that the whole earth shook with a massive tremor that forced Lucille and Lisa to stumble around goofily trying to keep their balance. The ground split all the way up to Claudia's smiling visage but suddenly, a look of shock found its way on her face.

"Oh my…" Claudia whispered as the right half of her body detached and fell toward the ground.

Quickly following that, the ground ripped open yet again crisscrossing with the first fissure and flashed passed Claudia.

Claudia looked up at Kate as if she'd been betrayed. "But we were supposed to play." she whispered just before a giant gash appeared beneath her chin.

Her head slipped and fell over the back of shoulders and Claudia's legs buckled beneath her. She fell to the ground in a growing pool of purple blood.

Kate was insane with rage. How dare Claudia die so easily? How dare anyone be so weak as to not put up more of a fight after taking the life of a comrade? She seethed angrily staring at Claudia's corpse wanting nothing more than the little demon to get back up so that they could fight some more.

"Kate…" called a faraway voice. It seemed somewhat familiar.

Kate turned her head and found Lisa standing there, her eyes wide with horror. Kate frowned at her, her anger seeming to redouble. She should kill Lisa. If it were not for her weakness and for the weakness of Lucille, Sophia would probably still be alive now. She took a step toward Lisa, the grip on her claymore never loosening.

"Kate, calm down." Lisa warned taking a step away from her. "You need to calm down if you can. I think you have gone over your limit."

Ha! Kate wanted to laugh. Go over her limit?! Kate was much too well-trained for that.

All she had to do was relax and calm herself down. To reverse the effects of the Yoki as she'd done so many times before. Not before killing Lisa and Lucille though. This was all their fault.

Kate paused in her thoughts as some small part of her cringed at the idea of murdering the two of them. To kill Lisa and Lucille? They were fellow comrades just as Sophia had been. Had been… The thought of Sophia in the past tense nearly sent her boiling over with rage again but that small part soothed Kate. She needed to calm down. She was going to lose herself to the powers of the Yoki if she did not calm down.

"Kate, can you hear me?" asked Lucille taking a hesitant step forward. "Are you still there?"

"Get away from me!" Kate screeched, her voice several octaves lower than normal.

She had to think of calm things. Things that were soothing. Killing Yoma was soothing. The idea of continuing to live as a human was the most powerful. She could not imagine wreaking havoc as a monster. Having to live and hide, feeding off the guts and intestines of humans. She cringed away disgusted by the mere thought of such a thing.

This helped and she felt the powers of her Yoki beginning to diminish. She dropped to a knee struggling with the inner desire to be angry and hateful versus the impulse to calm down into tranquility. The battle was fierce. Kate did not know that there was such a pull so strong that she had to fight tooth and nail to repel away from her.

It seemed to take an eternity as she struggled there on a knee trying to pull the pieces of herself back together. The rush of the Yoki had seemed to obliterate her very self-being into far away places that the calmness she was desperately feeding upon, fought to the greatest extent to bring back.

Kate found herself breathing so heavily that it seemed that no amount of air could ever satisfy her need for it. Sweat was pouring down the sides of her face in swift perspiration.

"Kate, thank goodness." Lisa said coming up beside her with a great sigh of relief. "You're okay. I thought you'd gone over your limit."

"So did I." gasped Kate dropping her claymore to rest on her hands and knees.

"As did I." said a voice that Kate thought was going to be Lucille's but it wasn't.

With some difficulty, Kate turned to find Sophia standing there, the hole in her head molding itself close. She smirked down at Kate who didn't have the air in her lungs to gasp with surprise.

"You're alive!?" Lisa gasped for her.

"I should've told you guys that I'm a strong defensive-type." Sophia explained rubbing her head where the hole had been. "I can heal through almost anything given the time."

"That would've been important information to share before Kate nearly lost herself to the Yoki." Lucille murmured coming up to stand beside her.

Kate collapsed onto her haunches still trying to catch her breath. Her heart was slamming against her chest with enough force to nearly break through her ribs.

"All in all," Sophia said smiling and resting her hands on her hips. "I'd say we did a pretty good job."

Kate sighed and closed her eyes in relief. She could not believe the extent of willpower that she had needed to bring herself back. She felt so dizzy and weak with exhaustion that she could have lain there on the ground and slept for days.

"So," said Sophia turning her smile on Kate who looked up at her exhaustedly. "you up for that challenge now or what?"


End file.
